Opening new sequence disconnect the camera

When I switch target in the middle of the night by opening a sequence (previously prepared and saved) that SGP will disconnect the cooler (even if I say no in the pop up menu) and the camera gets disconnected. I have to reconnect the camera and re-start the cooler.

Has SGP been programmed on purpose to do this or am I missing something?

Thanks

Hi Stephan.

This is expected behaviour.

If you are using the same equipment between the two sequences, simply set multiple targets within the one sequence, making sure you check the slew and centre options for the second target (and third, and fourth, and fifth etc). This is what SGP is designed to do - multiple targets within a sequence.

The new planning tools are terrific at helping set start/stop times or altitudes.

You can also import targets from one sequence into another.

I haven’t checked the manual for some time and not sure if the new planning tools are yet described. However much of your question relates to long-established principles and is well detailed in the manual. On screen tool tips are very helpful. There is also a growing corpus of helpful web tutorials.

Apologies if I’ve not understood your question.

HTH

Thank you Barry for trying to explain this odd behaviour but I still can’t understand why SGP shuts the cooler down and disconnects the camera when it just asked you if you want to shut it down and you clicked the “no” option of the dialog box…

Hi Stephan

I have reported this before. It is annoying when you have set up more than one sequence and, as you say, try to load the second sequence only to find the camera switches off regardless of any counter-instruction. The only problem with importing targets from another sequence is that when the run is underway, this is usually late at night when I am wanting things to run smoothly rather than have to use brain power when mistakes are most likely to be made. It seems such a simple thing to have prepared sequences, knowing that they might be run on different nights, but able to make a simple decision to change - rather than one long one which might need editing.

Lawrence

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I agree. I normally prepare a sequence for each DSO and save it until the weather is good and the obstructions are not a problem. If things are going well and I can survive longer imaging thru the night I will go to another DSO late in the night. That is when the camera shuts down happens despite instructing SGP to keep it going. I wish this would be addressed or to a minimum get a response from the developers.

I recognize this situation. I then realized I could create one sequence with multiple targets and then could enable/disable them depending on the weather. As the season progressed, the early ones would complete and I would add new ones at the end. There is a mindset change to doing one sequence-one target and one sequence-multiple targets.

I think this has been discussed before, and it’s an issue with the camera ASCOM driver, not SGP. Some ASCOM drivers always turn off cooling when the camera is disconnected. If you click “No” in the dialog box you mentioned, SGP does not explicitely ask for the driver to turn off cooling before telling it to disconnect, but the driver might still do so.

Here are a few other threads about the same issue:

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Interesting - I tried this with a QSI and it appears to behave itself. I seem to recall that SGP has its own QSI driver rather than using ASCOM, maybe that is it.

Naavis,
Thank you for re-posting those older threads but there is a BIG difference between what was discussed then and the issue that Lawrence and I are raising. We ARE NOT leaving or quitting SGP nor rebooting the computer. We are simply switching between sequences with everything running (including SGP ). Doing so disconnects the camera (ASI 1600MM) and shuts the cooler off.

Well, rebooting the computer, restarting SGP and just switching sequences all result in the camera being disconnected. If the ASCOM driver of the camera is programmed so that the cooler is always turned off when the camera is disconnected, there is very little SGP can do about it.

Just to clarify, is your problem more with the camera getting disconnected at all when switching sequences, or just the cooler getting turned off? I guess SGP could keep the camera connected during switching, unless the new sequence is set to use a whole different camera.

Both happens when switching sequence. The camera gets disconnected and the cooler is turned off. I only have 1 camera so all my sequences use the same camera.

I understood, I was just wondering do you consider disconnecting when switching sequences a problem, or just the cooler? One is something the SGP team can do somehing about, the other they cannot. Right now disconnecting when switching sequences seems to be expected behaviour.

The cooler turning off is the main problem. In the summer time, the sensor warms up very rapidly and I wouldn’t want to do such a rapid warming and re-cooling if I could avoid it.
Just reconnecting the camera is something I can live with.

It seems I might have been mistaken about the camera disconnecting being expected behaviour. I finally got to shoot some images again after a long bout of hardware problems. I tried switching sequences in SGP while having my gear connected, and nothing seemed to disconnect. I’m still running 2.6.0.23.

I believe as long as your equipment remains the same between sequences I don’t believe the equipment will disconnect. At least that has been my experience.

It does disconnect and shut he cooler off in my case and as was mentionned previously, it is the same equipment.